Jose Mourinho fears Tottenham Hotspur more than he fears their head coach, his
former protégé Andre Villas-Boas.

On the eve of Saturday’s tense meeting at White Hart Lane, Chelsea’s manager described Spurs as “big contenders” for the title but also a “very good defensive team” in a clear dig at Villas-Boas’s avowed “attacking philosophy”.

Villas-Boas, who spent seven years working for Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, insisted that he had “not lost any sleep” over the “breakdown” in their once-close relationship, remarks that influenced, if not dominated, Mourinho’s 44-minute public discourse after training at Cobham on Friday.

Throughout, Mourinho gave the impression that he would not be pinning clippings of Villas-Boas’s criticism to the dressing room door on Saturday, only their respective résumés. He talked of the great stages he has experienced, like Champions League finals, of the “many assistants” he has employed, yet mixed with these barbs was Mourinho’s unmistakable concern about Spurs.

Chelsea usually travel confidently to a place their fans once called “Three Point Lane” so Mourinho’s circumspection was unexpected. He did not ­particularly appreciate a “powerhouse” comparison between Spurs 2013 and his Chelsea champions of 2005 and 2006, saying “all teams are different”, but he focused heavily on Spurs’ strength seen in the midfield of Paulinho and Mousa Dembélé.

“They are physical,’’ said Mourinho. “I don’t just mean big and strong people but fast and intensive people. At the same time, I think they build a very good defensive team. They defend very well. The first thing they think about is to be solid defensively and build from a very strong defensive team.”

Spurs do boast an excellent defensive record, conceding only Olivier Giroud’s goal in 450 Premier League minutes, but Mourinho’s dismissive appraisal ignored the presence of creative individuals such as Christian Eriksen in the hole, Erik Lamela out wide and Kyle Walker driving down the flank. Mourinho’s verdict followed comments from Villas-Boas in French sports paper L’Equipe that “my philosophy is to have attacking teams that have initiative in the game, that like to keep the ball’’.

Mourinho rejected Spurs’ complaints that Chelsea ambushed their deal for Willian. “The kid always had the dream to play for Chelsea,’’ said Mourinho. He did acknowledge that Spurs were title contenders because “they were the champions of the market’’ this summer, buying “players with quality”.

Mourinho noted that Spurs had swapped their over-reliance on Gareth Bale for a “very, very good” squad. “Because you win titles with squads, not one good player, they are much more contenders than they were before.’’

Mourinho continued with the little jabs, saying he preferred “the professional way” he and his former mentor at Barcelona, Bayern Munich’s Louis van Gaal, behaved towards each other before and during the 2010 Champions League final. “That’s the way you have to do it,” he said, adding “I don’t care about what he [Villas-Boas] says. I’m not a ‘kid’ to discuss these kind of things with the media.’’

A brief debate ensued over what Mourinho meant by “kid”. To some of his audience, Mourinho was deliberately belittling Villas-Boas; to others, he was simply saying it would be childish of him to respond through the media.

Mourinho argued that anyone with an issue with him, like Villas-Boas, should deal with the problem face to face. “Normally that’s what should happen. My parents taught me that and we tell the same to our kids: if you have a problem at school with somebody you should try and resolve it yourself rather than bringing it home and asking us.

“Between players is the same thing. I’m the dad of the dressing room and I don’t want things coming to the dad all the time. Things should be resolved between brothers.”

Some avoided confrontation with Mourinho out of fear. “Just because of my ugly face, not because of my personality! When people know me, they know they can be very straight and very objective. The people who really know me, their opinion is respectful. I had so many assistants in my career.’’

Reflecting on his career, Mourinho argued that the Premier League, a trophy he has lifted twice, was easier to win than La Liga. “Spain is not a very good championship but it’s the most difficult one to win. If you are in Real Madrid or Barcelona you win every game. The quality is there in the two giants of world football, and this is a competition between both.

“When you don’t win one game, you’re in trouble because your direct opponent hardly loses a game. From a mental point of view, that’s hard. You’re waiting for the two derbies almost to make a decision over who will be champions.

“In England you have to be very strong to be competing against every team, every fixture. You play at Stamford Bridge against Hull who come from the Championship and it’s hard. You’re winning 2-0 and they’re pushing, and if they score to make it 2-1 you know you will be in trouble until the last minute. At Madrid we scored 126 goals, winning 5-0 or 6-1 at home.

“Italy is the most tactical one. By miles. Every team, from a tactical point of view, is very well prepared. The defensive side of the game has a big privilege [focus], especially among the smaller teams. In Portugal, if you have a good team, and Porto have a good team, you are champions. After that, the point is if you can win the Champions League or not.’’

So a journey through the relative merits of the leagues he has coached in concludes with a jab at Villas-Boas, who won the Europa League at Porto, not the Champions League as Mourinho did.

Juan Mata, a player who arrived at Chelsea during Villas-Boas’s brief tenure, could feature on Saturday morning after Mourinho indicated that the Spaniard worked harder off the ball against Swindon Town. “If he keeps coming in my direction, I will keep going in his. Good boy, good professional. We must both believe that the worst period has gone and, from now, it has to be better.’’

As for others needing to come in Mourinho’s tactical “direction”, David Luiz did “a little bit” and Kevin De Bruyne “not so much” in the Capital One Cup win over Swindon.

Chelsea’s reward is a fourth-round tie with Arsenal which has been moved to Tuesday, Oct 29, for broadcasting and Metropolitan Police ­reasons – 50 hours after their Premier League game with Manchester City.

“It will be a good chance for the kids,’’ said Mourinho, who has promised to field his under-21 team. “If the organisation [the Football League] thinks the game is not important, why should I?”

As he returned to focus on the league, Mourinho smiled that he does not even have the toughest role in his own family. “My wife’s job is the most difficult job of the four of us. To be mum 24 hours per day, and the wife of a football manager, is not the easiest thing. The kids have the most enjoyable lives, school and freedom. And my life is fantastic.”